Victim in broomstick assault may lose an eye

MARYSVILLE -- An Everett man was arrested last week after allegedly stabbing his estranged wife's boyfriend in the eye with a broomstick.The victim needed 127 stitches to repair the damage, according to the arrest report. He suffered a broken bone in his eye socket and underwent five hours of surgery.The suspect, 52, was arrested Thursday for investigation of first-degree assault and telephone harassment. Police allege the suspect also left voicemails for the victim, 38, threatening to behead him and "kill everybody else."The attack took place about 8:30 a.m. Feb. 3 inside a mobile home in the 11400 block of 36th Drive NE in Marysville, court records show.The estranged wife was house-sitting for a relative at the time.She and the victim were in bed sleeping when she awoke to find her husband hovering over them, according to police reports.He began plunging the broomstick into the victim's eye. The victim woke up, fought back, and the suspect eventually fled.The woman drove the victim to a local hospital. He was transferred to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.Doctors said his chances of keeping the injured eye were low, police wrote in the report.After the attack, the woman allegedly cleaned up the room and re-attached the broomstick to the broom. The woman recently had told her husband she wanted a divorce.She told police she didn't report what happened right away because she was worried about upsetting the relative who owned the mobile home.Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.

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